Unexpected use of holiday home

[Puzzledandpissedoff]

Not quite Mexican House Thief - at least not yet! - but I'm trying no to get dragged into this and would welcome anyone's advice

Friend A has a holiday home in Florida and was persuaded to offer it to son of Friend B for a free fortnight's holiday with his girlfriend
Friend B's son (23) invited a load of mates to go instead, claiming his GF couldn't make it, but didn't tell A about this
Friend A - who's only just discovered this - has said no to the mates, some of whom are very dubious (a couple have convictions for affray)
Both B and her son insist flights to Orlando are all paid for, so it's now not fair to refuse them

As C I'm close to all of them, and though I'm trying to stay out of it I'm getting my ear thoroughly bent by everyone, expecting me to take sides. FWIW I believe B's son has been pretty deceitful over this and shouldn't expect to dictate who stays at someone else's home, but would be interested in the MN verdict

YABU = since flights are now paid for they should be allowed to go
YANBU = A should say no because she wasn't told those going had changed

Friend A is in the right here.

B's son shouldn't be getting the keys to the place at all now - as he can't be trusted.

They all need to arrange alternative accommodation or cancel their flights.

Not A's problem.

Just because the flights are booked doesn’t mean they can’t go. There are literally tonnes of hotels and villas in Florida. If only they’d been honest with A....

Friend Bs son probably had that in mind all along.

^Without a doubt. I don’t believe the girlfriend was ever going

Her house = her rules. If these friends going aren’t a big deal then why wasn’t he honest about who was going? She is well within her rights to say no. Not her fault they have purchased the flights

B was deceitful and A is fully entitled to say the party is off.

The other way would be to ask for a deposit which would be non refundable if any damage occurred. And I would also suggest a fee for cleaning is paid before the trip. Also ensure house insurance is covered.

Friend B and son are behaving appallingly.

Are you going to support friend A now op? And tell friend B she's being a dick for supporting her son in his devious shenanigans?

Friend A might feel a little bit uncomfortable now, but that's nothing compared to how Friend A would feel after the house is trashed and Friend B refuses to pay for the damage.

I'd side with Friend A, and I'd reexamine my own friendship with Friend B.

Tell them to cancel the flights and book Magaluf. Absolute CFs

Not unreasonable at all. He sounds like a prat.

Friend B’s son and friends can still use their flights. Just find and pay for accommodation.

Regardless of where they say they will stay, they will end up at Friend A’s house partying. They’ll probably say they’ve booked elsewhere but won’t. I’d be fuming if I were Friend A and wouldn’t now allow Friend B’s son to stay. Presumably there’s a key, I wouldn’t hand it over.

Agree with pp, the ones with convictions won’t get an ESTA so they won’t be able to enter the US.

I think you should support A here, B’s son has been misleading at best and has lied at worst. I think this was his plan all along and he has been outrageously cheeky.

To answer a few questions ...

I agree that DS probably planned this, and yes his mum enables him
He "can't pay" as he has little spare money - mum usually bails him out
House is 4 bed/3 bath and DS says 5 are going (suspect it may be more)
The convictions were in another EU country, and I suspect they're hoping they won't appear on the UK records to cause problems at immigration
And I'm still trying to keep out of it, but if I'm going to say anything at all I wanted to check what MNers thought first

The voting's certainly interesting anyway ... I thought someone at least would vote YABU but it seems not

B's son should have checked if it was OK to take his friends before they booked flights. Since he didn't bother, he'll have to suck it up.

They can still use flights but book some other accommodation.
No way, particularly due to the deceptive way he has gone about trying to get this favour from his mum’s friend

YANBU. It was cheeky AF to expect to use the house for free with his girlfriend let alone a rowdy group of mates. He's being incredibly manipulative. The can book into a cheap hostel instead.

I don't see that it's fair to blame Friend B for her embarrassingly entitled son's behaviour.

I agree that the lads need to sort their own digs though.

If he has little spare money then he can't afford Florida.

Bs son is at it, probably had no intention of going with a gf. It would be a complete recipe for disaster and I wouldn't feel stuck in the middle at all if I was you, I would be completely on As side.

I'm sure the US immigration authorities are entirely capable of checking for convictions against all databases, not just the UK one. If B's son and his friends think otherwise, they're idiots.

Good for friend A.

Imo B's son can't be trusted now so I hope to goodness there's no way he can access the place.

Another time she needs to say no straightaway & not let herself be persuaded!

The convictions were in another EU country, and I suspect they're hoping they won't appear on the UK records to cause problems at immigration

Doesn't work like that. ESTAs have to be applied for in advance.

B’s son is CF par excellence.
A is quite right I’m not allowing him to use her house for a different purpose to what was originally arranged.